


What a Wonderful Life

by capn_cecil_ang



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Date Night, Domestic Fluff, Episode: s08e03, M/M, Memories, Not A Fix-It, Sad, romantic dinner, saying goodbye
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 15:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13461144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/capn_cecil_ang/pseuds/capn_cecil_ang
Summary: Eric’s mind wandered back to Aaron’s proclamation of love. He still remembered vividly that moment when Aaron told him he loved him for the first time. He smiled softly and closed his eyes, letting his mind take him back to the nicer times.





	What a Wonderful Life

**Author's Note:**

> I've got the idea to write this way back after I saw S08E03 but I wasn't able to finish it until now. Inspired by the story Jordan Woods-Robinson (a.k.a. Eric) told in Talking Dead about the "I always had a hunch" quote. It's not a fix it though, because I don't believe in fix it fanfics although it is always hard to see the faves go (oh how I thought I was prepared for that because I read it years ago in the comics - I wasn't... but I appreciate show chose to give them a little moment to say goodbye to each other).

          Eric was sitting against the tree, breathing heavily. He felt the sharp pain in his abdomen and the cold sweat all over his body. But he knew he had to be strong. If not for himself, then for Aaron. He looked up at his lover, hovering protectively above him, broken and fragile. When he spoke, Eric could hear the guilt in his voice.

“I pulled you into this. You didn’t want to fight.” Aaron said.

“Until, until I… did,” he said with severe difficulty, trying to ease Aaron’s conscience. He felt the blood oozing from his wound and he knew he won’t make it to the Kingdom’s doctor. And yet he was more concerned about Aaron than himself.

“You need to help them–” he said.

“What? I can't–” Aaron replied almost immediately.

‘He was always so stubborn,’ Eric thought to himself.

“You need to go.” Eric insisted. “I can bleed here fine on my own.”

“I'm not leaving you.” Aaron said, resolutely.

“Don't be an idiot.” Eric smiled. “They need _you_.”

 

          Aaron couldn’t hold it anymore. He broke down in front of Eric, letting the stream of warm tears fall down his face. He couldn’t let him go. Not now, not like this.

“Aaron, look at me,” he heard his lover say. “Look at me.”

When he felt Eric’s hand on his check, it struck him how cold it already was. Fresh tears rolled down his cheeks as he looked into Eric’s hazel eyes.

“You know I love you,” Eric said softly, looking deeply into Aaron’s eyes. “You know I’m right,” he added firmly.

Aaron wept, trying to get hold of himself. He nodded slightly and leaned in so their foreheads touched. He didn’t want to leave Eric here alone, but deep down he knew Eric was right. He needed to go and help the others. And sooner this’ll be over the sooner they can get Eric to the doctor. He leaned in and kissed Eric, long and soft, making his tears mix with Eric’s. When he reluctantly pulled away, he let his forehead rest against Eric’s. New vail of tears covered his cheeks as he tried not to lose control completely.

“Okay,” Eric said, reassuringly, still holding Aaron as close as possible. “Now… stand your ass up, get back to the fight, and you win this thing.”

Aaron let Eric’s words wash over him, drawing strength from them. After a while he nodded.

“I will.”

“Okay.”

Aaron pulled back just a little so he could look into Eric’s eyes. Acquiring newfound optimism he said:

“ _We_ will.”

He looked deep into Eric’s eyes and felt a warm smile appearing on his face.

“I love you,” he said, as if he was saying it for the first time.

“I always had a hunch,” Eric said, a huge smile appearing on his face, as he tried to stop the unwilling tears.

Aaron smiled back, remembering the moment from their past. He knew there’s nothing more he could do for him now.

He took the rifle and handed it to his boyfriend in case he needed to defend himself. Then he cupped Eric’s cheek and looked at him one last time. He knew that they said everything that needed to be said. But he still felt like there was something more. If only words could describe how much he loved him.

Eric leaned against the tree and through ragged breath he firmly said: “Now go.”

Aaron hesitated for a moment but then nodded. He looked into Eric’s eyes one last time and stood up, glancing at his lover few times before he made his way back to the fight.

 

          Eric rested his head against the tree, breathing heavily. He was getting weaker, he felt that. The jacket around his waist was helping a bit but it wasn’t enough to stop the bleeding. He was glad he persuaded Aaron to go. He really was more needed in the fight. And Eric knew, deep down, that this was the last time he saw Aaron and Aaron saw him. And he didn’t want him to see him dead, or even worse, turned. Better for Aaron’s last memory of him being something nice.

Eric’s mind wandered back to Aaron’s proclamation of love. He still remembered vividly that moment when Aaron told him he loved him for the first time. He smiled softly and closed his eyes, letting his mind take him back to the nicer times.

 

***

 

          Eric smoothed the tablecloth again, looking over the table setting for umpteenth time that evening. Plates were set nicely, tablecloth was clean and two tall thin unlit candles were standing at the center of the table. Everything seemed perfect and yet Eric couldn’t get rid of the unpleasant clench in his stomach. He changed his clothes four times already – and only once because he spilt a sauce over his shirt. He finally ended up wearing his favorite deep blue shirt with tiny white stars pattern.

He made his way over to the kitchen and checked on the sauce again. He set it to simmer few minutes ago before he went to change one last time. And although he made this dish countless times, he felt paranoid it was going to burn. The soft sounds of jazz music were reaching here from the living room, but unfortunately it didn’t help to calm him down.

When the doorbell rang, Eric almost jumped out of his skin. He turned off the stove and rushed to the door. He felt his heart in his throat and had to stop and take a deep breath before he was able to continue. He looked at himself in the small mirror that hanged on the wall in the hallway and sighed.

“Calm down,” he said to his image in the mirror. “It’s not like this is your first date.”

He took another deep breath and opened the door.

Aaron was standing at the doorstep of Eric’s apartment, nervous smile on his lips. He was dressed in light blue jeans and white shirt with striped grey and blue tie. He had a navy blue suit jacket over it, which brought out the color of his eyes.

“Hey,” Aaron said.

“Hey, come in,” Eric smiled and showed him inside, leading him into dining room.

“I uh… I brought some wine.” Aaron said, showing Eric a bottle of white he was holding in his hand. “I didn’t know what to pick. I hope this is good.”

Eric couldn’t suppress a slight chuckle when he saw a bottle and motioned towards the table. In the middle of the table was standing the identical bottle of wine.

“That’s actually my favorite,” Eric said, smiling. “I guess I’ll take this one to cool down. Make yourself at home,” he said and took the bottle from Aaron.

While Eric was gone, Aaron looked over the dining room, noticing set of photos on the wall. On one photo was a little freckled boy with fiery hair, holding up a huge fish and smiling widely into the camera lens. On the other one was elder couple with kind eyes and soft smiles, sitting on the bench in front of a humble house, sun setting behind them. Before Aaron was able to examine other photos he was disturbed by the commotion behind him. He turned around and saw Eric putting the porcelain bowl full of tomato sauce next to another one full of steaming spaghetti he brought a little while before.

“Do you need any help?” Aaron asked.

“No, it’s ok,” Eric said as he lit the candles in the middle of the table. “You are my guest so don’t you even think about that,” he laughed heartily.

Aaron smiled and walked towards the table. He took off his jacket and hung it over the chair. 

“Alright, this should be everything,” Eric said as he glanced over the table one last time. “Please, sit.”

“Thanks,” Aaron said and sat down at the table.

Aaron watched Eric carefully as the younger man poured wine into the glasses and put spaghetti on each plate.

“So, how’s your dad?” he asked after a while.

Eric gave the other man a sad smile as he set the plate in front of brunet and sat down.

“He’s… hanging there,” he said. “He’s up and down. He has better days and worse. But he was very happy to see me. They both were,” he smiled softly, his eyes momentarily wandering towards the photo Aaron was looking at earlier.

“How long did you spend with them?” Aaron asked.

“Just a few days,” Eric said and his voice fell a bit. “I wish I could do more for him. But there’s nothing anyone can do. His organism is just old and… it’s inevitable.”

Eric looked at Aaron and smiled slightly. “I guess it’s just his time and I should be glad he got to live such a long and happy life.”

“Yeah,” Aaron smiled back at the red haired man.

“We should make a toast,” Eric said, raising his glass. Aaron did the same and locked his eyes with Eric’s.

“To us,” Eric said. “May we also live the long and happy lives.”

They clinked their glasses and took a sip from their wine.

“It’s really good,” Aaron said when he put his glass down. “No wonder it’s your favorite.”

“What can I say? I have impeccable taste.” Eric smirked a bit. “We should start eating though. Before it gets cold.”

Aaron took the first bite and his face lit up. “Oh my God,” he said, trying to suppress any inappropriate sounds. “What is in that? It’s absolutely terrific!”

Eric beamed as he watched Aaron stuff his face with his meal. “You don’t even know how glad I am you like it,” he said, visibly relaxed. “It’s my grandma’s special recipe.”

A fond smile appeared on his face as he was talking. “She used to make it every time I felt down. I… I wasn’t sure if I should do it, it’s not the most romantic meal in my opinion, but… I wanted to share it with you.”

Aaron send the other man a big smile and reached across the table to grab Eric’s hand.

“Thank you,” he said, smiling wholeheartedly. “I appreciate you felt like you can share this piece of your family history with me.”

Eric felt his ears turning red a little and had to turn his gaze away. “You’re welcome,” he said under his breath and took a sip from his wine.

Aaron returned to eating, a contemplated smile on his face. “You have to tell me what is in it though,” he said, savoring every bite.

“It’s a family secret,” Eric said, a cheeky smile on his face. “I can only reveal it on our fifteenth date,” he chuckled.

“Is that a challenge?” Aaron laughed shortly, resting his eyes on the younger man.

They finished their meal pretty quickly after that, talking about various topics. After the meal Aaron insisted on helping Eric with dishes and Eric didn’t have the heart to oppose him. So Aaron rolled up his sleeves and put away his tie as he started to wash the dishes. Eric stood next to him, drying them. He wasn’t sure if the warm feeling inside was from all the wine or from the sheer comfortability with the taller man, but he decided just to enjoy it for now. He was watching Aaron as his hands were deep in the sink, scrubbing the pan and he couldn’t help but smile at how good it felt to be around Aaron.

“You really shouldn’t be doing this,” Eric said, as he put away the plate he just dried.

“It’s ok,” Aaron said, “I like doing dishes. It makes me feel like I’m washing away all the problems of the day.” he said and looked at Eric. “I know it sounds stupid.”

“No, it doesn’t,” he smiled. “How was work, anyway?”

“Oh, don’t even ask,” Aaron laughed slightly. “You should be happy you have time off, otherwise I can’t guarantee you would escape the claws of Pam’s creativity.”

“What did she come up with now?” Eric laughed and sipped from the wine they brought with them to the kitchen.

“She decided we should do a TV commercial to turn focus towards our organization and to help us raise some funds. Which is great idea really… only she decided _I_ would be the face of said commercial.”

“Oh no,” Eric sighed and couldn’t stop a short chuckle.

“Yes, apparently my former career as a politician and my hands on experience from missions in Africa predestined me for this. It goes over my head how, but, you know Pam. When she sets her mind on something, it’s best to just do what she says.”

“Yeah,” Eric nodded. “But all joking aside, I think you will be charming on the camera.”

“Don’t get me even started,” Aaron groaned slightly and handed Eric the pan to dry. “We were shooting all day. I didn’t even had time to go home before coming here. I can’t wait to have this behind me and be on the mission somewhere in Liberia again.”

“You say that now but I want to see you when you’ll have to negotiate with another African warlord, gun to your head,” Eric said, half teasingly, and put away the pan.

“Everything will be fine as long as you’ll be by my side,” Aaron said and took Eric’s hand gently in his.

Eric looked into Aaron’s eyes and smiled softly. “Would you like to dance?” he asked and glanced towards the living room, where a muffled soft jazz music could still be heard.

“I’m not much of a dancer,” Aaron admitted.

“I’ll teach you then,” Eric smiled and led Aaron out of the kitchen and into the living room.

“Oh, I love this song,” Eric said as they walked into the living room and turned towards Aaron. He put his hands on Aron’s hips and smiled softly.

“Just follow my lead,” he said and started moving. Against all odds, Aaron seemed to be quite natural and soon they were looking into each other’s eyes, completely lost in the moment.

“You know,” Eric said softly, “we could have rescheduled since you had such a hard day. I didn’t know.”

“No way,” Aaron smiled. “This date was the only thing that kept me going today. I was looking whole day to see you again.”

Eric smiled and leaned in to place a soft kiss on Aaron’s lips. The song ended and the room filled with silence, but two men were too focused on each other to notice.

“I love you,” Aaron said when their lips parted, looking deep into Eric’s eyes.

Eric smiled and embraced the warm feeling these words brought him.

“I’ve had a hunch,” he said.

He placed his head on Aaron’s shoulder and they slow danced in silence yet for a while, enjoying each other’s company.

“I really don’t want to go,” Aaron said into the silence of the room.

Eric looked up and cupped Aaron’s cheek softly. “Then don’t. Stay… if you want.”

Aaron leaned in and they kissed again, softly and sweetly. Then Eric took Aaron’s hand and led him into his bedroom, closing the door behind them.

 

          An hour and half later they were lying in Eric’s bed, Eric’s head on Aaron’s chest, listening to other man’s regular heartbeat. Aaron had his arm over Eric, stroking little circles in Eric’s back.

“The basil’s fresh,” Eric murmured into Aaron’s chest, scooting even closer.

“Excuse me?” Aaron said, stopping his movements momentarily.

Eric looked up at Aaron and smiled. “The secret ingredient in the sauce. The basil is not dried but fresh and chopped.”

Aaron was looking at the other man for a while and then finally found something to say. “I thought you couldn’t tell me until our fifteenth date.”

“Yeah,” Eric smiled and pulled himself up to give Aaron a little peck on the cheek. “I have a feeling this is going to last.”

Then he laid back down and closed his eyes. Before he fell asleep in Aaron’s arms, he felt the other man kissing the crown of his head and wishing him goodnight.

 

***

 

          Eric’s eyelids fluttered as he tried to open them. He felt weak and cold and he had to put in more and more effort with every breath. The only warm part of his body was his abdomen, where fresh warm blood was slowly pouring out of him. He wasn’t able to get a grip on the rifle anymore. He let it slide next to him on the ground and closed his eyes again.

‘It won’t be long now,’ he thought.

Apart from coldness and numbness he also felt sad. He didn’t want to leave Aaron. But he knew from the beginning that his chances were low. He knew this is going to destroy Aaron. But it would have been much worse if he saw him dying.

‘It was better like this,’ he thought.

He relaxed and let the coldness enwrap him. He thought back to their date again and smiled fondly.

“Goodnight, Aaron,” he said with his last breath and eased into unconsciousness. As the cold enwrapped him completely, there was still a soft smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys liked it, althought it probably made you sad. I know it definitely made me sad, writing it. But I wanted to share with you yet one little thing. I am apparently continuing my habit of naming my fanfics based on song titles or lyrics from songs, but when I was thinking about title for this, a song Wonderful Life came to my mind and damn, if that is not the best send off song for Eric I don't know what is. If you want, here is very rare, old but great, live acoustic version of this song and I think it just fits perfectly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVFXDmZ_9y4. Enjoy!  
> (And now I made myself also "gig-sick" because I haven't been to a good gig in such a long time.)


End file.
